Am I Doing it Wrong

 

I usually fly by the seat of my pants

I start out with a plan and end up with something completely different

Friday we went looking for 2 baby pigs

we couldn’t find any for sale

so we stopped at a place that sold rabbits

we needed another male so our bunnies didn’t end up swimming in a shallow gene pool

and Mandy wanted a bunny of her own

so we got her a little male

 

We also spied a couple of the little flop top chickens

Well, that’s what I called them

Most people call them top hat chickens

They are officially called polish chickens

 

I have wanted some of these chickens since I first laid eyes on the a couple years ago

I had only seen the white ones

But these were black with white poof on their heads.

We asked about them and they were for sale so we bought a pair

 

We were happily on our way home when a guy returned our call about some quail

Knowing very little about quail

And even less about how to take care of them

We jumped at the chance to get them

When we got there

We found that the baby quail were smaller than a golf ball

They were cute

We wanted them

We bought them

 

The guy, I think his name was Mike

Offered us the little birds that were running around with the big quail in his cage

I had wanted them when I saw them but figured they were too expensive

 

He gave them all to us for $20

He threw in some food and a special water dish for free

The birds were white button quail

And when I  got home I looked them up online

They sell for $25 a pair and we had gotten 8 for $20

 

These birds are tiny

Full grown they are just a bit bigger than a golf ball

I really like them but they pose a problem

Nowhere to put them

I constructed a temporary cage for them

And Mandy and I worked in the rain to build a fenced off area with bird netting over it

The special cage looks good and safe

The flop tops seem to love it

It even has individual nesting boxes

But I am afraid that I have missed a small space

that will let our buttons get out and they will get hurt

I will put them out there tonight or tomorrow

But I am still scared

 

Now for the baby quail

 think they are called Coturnix quail

they are so tiny they need to be under a heat lamp

so they are in a box in the house till they get a little bigger

 

So

My question is

am I doing it wrong?

I went out for pigs

And came home with 25 birds and a bunny

And as usual

I didn’t even have cages for most of them when I got home

All of my animals seem to be happy

Even Stewie, who is a grumpy, spoiled little goat

 

I know I should plan ahead

But people who do that seem to be so unhappy

And they miss out on all of the cool things in life

 

Most of you know that 3 years ago

I packed up everything I could carry in a trailer

And moved across the country to live in a tent

No real plan other than basic survival

We brought enough food for a month

And everything we needed to survive in the woods

 

I may be doing it wrong

But I think that the only people that think that are the scared people

The ones that are locked into their 9 to 5 jobs

And their Starbucks life styles

 

Not that there is anything wrong with that

But I’ve been to 38 states

2 other countries

And I have truly seen who Americans are

The American people are great

And so are the Canadian and the Mexican people that I met when I traveled there

I have met many people from other countries

As I have lived my adventurous life

The Muslim people, though spiritually different

Were kind and good people

 

I have known German people

They too were kind and good people

As a matter of fact

I have known people from

Laos, Philippines, England, and many other places

They were all nice people

And some of them have really good food that is native to their homelands

 

I wouldn’t have gotten to meet most of the people I have met

And experienced the cultures that I have

If I were prejudice in any way

Or if I had thought things through before I just took off

To experience the world

 

In my eyes the answer is no

I am not doing it wrong

I love our diverse country

And all of its unique people

And I love where I have ended up

Which is a little town in rural Arkansas

Where I can have my little animals around me

And live quietly with my family in one of the most beautiful places in North America